SOUTH AFRICA: ONE SUSPECT KILLED, TWO ARRESTED AFTER TEN FAMILY MEMBERS SHOT DEAD

Fri 21 Apr 2023:

At least ten people believed to be family members were allegedly shot dead at their home at Imbali Unit 14 in Pietermaritzburg.

The shooting took place in the city of Pietermaritzburg in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province on Friday.

Police responded to a report of gunshots early in the morning.

“When they attended to the scene, they found 10 members of one family were shot and fatally wounded in one of the homes,” South African news website News24 quoted police spokesman Brigadier Jay Naicker as saying.

It is believed two gunmen entered the property and opened fire on the family, he said.

“The motive for the killings is unknown,” he added.

Mabhungu Mkhize, a local councillor, told news channel SABC News: “A family was attacked while they were sleeping.”

At least one suspect managed to flee the scene.

Police Minister Bheki Cele visited the area after 10 members of a family were shot dead by gunmen who entered the home in the early hours of the morning.

“It has been confirmed that 10 people here are dead, the youngest 13 and the oldest 63, who happened to be the mother of the house,” Cele said.

“It does look like it’s a family, most people that are there are of the same surname and those that are not of the same surname had some sort of a relationship.

“Police received information that there are people who were doing some cleansing about a kilometre from here. They went to see that scene and found 4 people standing outside and as they saw the police, they exchanged fire with the police. Police shot back, killed one, injured one who is arrested, arrested one who is not injured and one has run away, fortunately, they know who ran away.”

Cele says the deceased suspect is linked to several crimes in the area.

“This place has not been giving us peace for a long time. The guy has been linked to some murders and fortunately, the Uber guy that we spoke to seems to be knowing a lot, because he has been driving them around when they commit all these cases.”

Three firearms were also seized by police and will be tested to see if they are linked to any crimes.

Highest murder rates

South Africa has one of the world’s highest murder rates, with about 20,000 murders recorded every year out of a population of 60 million.

From July 1 to September 30, 2022, more than 7,000 people were murdered in crimes reported to the South African Police Service (SAPS).

Almost 1,000 women were among those murdered during the period in 2022. More than 13,000 women were also victims of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and 1,277 women were victims of attempted murder.

Gunmen killed eight people and wounded three others at a birthday party in the city of Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape in January, following a spate of mass gun attacks last year.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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